FAO Grainfather Users, Re. Underletting?

[Bigcol49]

A bit too much in the kettle for my liking . . .

Hi!
The small amount of stuff that has fallen through the mesh should be pumped around and get caught in the grain bed filter once it has formed.

 

[IainM]

I have to try this with the Bulldog Brewer as doughing in is the most tedious part of the brew day. As the pump is external and removable I can just reverse it and pump from the hot liquor tank into the ball valve at the bottom, keeping it half closed to restrict the rate.

 

[Oneflewover]

I have to try this with the Bulldog Brewer as doughing in is the most tedious part of the brew day. As the pump is external and removable I can just reverse it and pump from the hot liquor tank into the ball valve at the bottom, keeping it half closed to restrict the rate.

I'd be keen to try this with the bulldog, but how would you reverse the pump? Pump inlet and outlet are different sizes aren't they? :hmm:

 

[IainM]

I'd be keen to try this with the bulldog, but how would you reverse the pump? Pump inlet and outlet are different sizes aren't they? :hmm:

Surely you could attach a quick disconnect using a cable tie and an adaptor. Could even attach the current recirculation out so you can use the disconnect on that too, or better make something less susceptible to compressing the mash or channeling.

 

[Oneflewover]

Surely you could attach a quick disconnect using a cable tie and an adaptor. Could even attach the current recirculation out so you can use the disconnect on that too, or better make something less susceptible to compressing the mash or channeling.

Hmmmmm, will have a look. I have been thinking about getting the bulldog sparger, and probably will if I have any money left after chrimbo. If I do I guess it would be a simple job of pumping from the sparger to the top of the brewer between the grain basket and the boiler.....

 

[strange-steve]

I have to try this with the Bulldog Brewer as doughing in is the most tedious part of the brew day. As the pump is external and removable I can just reverse it and pump from the hot liquor tank into the ball valve at the bottom, keeping it half closed to restrict the rate.

Well after one trial, I would say there are some advantages to doing this and no obvious disadvantages, so I'll carry on doughing-in like this until I find a reason not to. The stuff that fell through into the kettle as mentioned by @Fil doesn't concern me for three reasons:
1. I think the volume is small enough to be inconsequential.
2. I have no doubt that mashing in the standard way, along with the vigorous stirring required, would cause at least as much material to fall through the bottom plate.
3. As Bigcol mentioned, the recirculating mash should deal with that anyway.

 

[IainM]

Hmmmmm, will have a look. I have been thinking about getting the bulldog sparger, and probably will if I have any money left after chrimbo. If I do I guess it would be a simple job of pumping from the sparger to the top of the brewer between the grain basket and the boiler.....

Yeah, that would be a much easier way of doing it, or going through the overflow pipe.

 

[DoctorMick]

Also a very slow sparge helps, tedious though it is, and I aim for 25L in the FV every time

I’ve seen this recommended lods but for the life of me I’ve never worked out how to slow the Sparge down, the water seems to flow through at the speed it decides!

 

[Poochops]

I’ve seen this recommended lods but for the life of me I’ve never worked out how to slow the Sparge down, the water seems to flow through at the speed it decides!

Using the GF I have my sparge water run from my HLT outlet through a silicone hose onto the top plate, I can throttle the valve back to change the flow rate and aim for about a centimetre of liquor sitting on the grain. You're right in as much as it'll flow as fast as the grain let's it, but it does slow down over the course of the sparge as the bed compacts. All's I'd say is that if it's flowing too fast at the beginning you can cause it to slow down by pressing the top plate gently onto the grain, compacting the bed manually and slowing the sparge. I've never done it mind you, it takes me 20-25 minutes to sparge generally and my efficiency is brilliant. Once I've set the flow out of the HLT I don't even look at it again till it's empty.

 

[Saisonator]

I’ve seen this recommended lods but for the life of me I’ve never worked out how to slow the Sparge down, the water seems to flow through at the speed it decides!

Pretty random for me too.

 

[MagnusTS]

Pretty random for me too.

+1 for that. Sometimes very fast, sometimes very slow. If there is a pattern to it I haven't found it yet. Last one was very very slow. Was wondering if it was maybe something to do with over stirring at mash in. I had some dough ball issues that took a bit of mashing.

 

[Slid]

Some very interesting comments on this thread. I have found that the best efficiencies come when I get the least resistance to flow through the mash and sparge and that quite often to reduce this resistance, I need to stir once or twice during the mash,

 

[Oneflewover]

Hmmmmm, will have a look. I have been thinking about getting the bulldog sparger, and probably will if I have any money left after chrimbo. If I do I guess it would be a simple job of pumping from the sparger to the top of the brewer between the grain basket and the boiler.....

Well, I did get the bulldog sparger, and it made heating the water and sparging much easier. Tried the above underletting method and it worked beautifully. I 'set' the grain in grain basket rest in an old fv before transferring it to to the brewer. A little grain / flour got though the mesh of the grain basket, but not much at all. The basket didn't float up at all which surprised me a bit

The wort recirculated really well, no problems at all with gumming up the pump or slow sparge. Bloody awful efficiency though! I'll be stirring a couple of times throughout the mash in future, but I think that underletting is worth persisting with on my set up.

 

[strange-steve]

Cool, I've used the underletting method a few times and will continue to do so.
Regarding efficiency, I've found that a couple of stirs mid-mash make a big difference.

 

[Oneflewover]

Yeah, just a bit peeved that this time around I won't end up with the beer I had planned due to a big hit on the efficiency. First time using a liquid yeast too (Wyeast 3711). Planning to top crop and reuse for next brew to mitigate cost.

Feeling a bit deflated to be honest as was really looking forward to this beer

 

[Braindead]

Wish I could afford one :thumbd:

 

[Zoiks]

Bumping a pretty old thread here, but just wanted to say thanks to Steve for his in depth analysis, will be giving this a try next brew day, obviously being mindful of checking the efficiency, giving it a few stirs and mashing for longer if required.

 

[hoppyscotty]

Thought about giving it a try but never got around to it. See below...

 

[Zoiks]

Gave it a try today, came in over target OG, think the next time I brew will be the true test (the verdant putty recipe I found on here).

Now getting high on my own supply.